


What Do We Do Now

by dickard23



Series: Family [10]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-26
Updated: 2016-02-05
Packaged: 2018-03-25 18:59:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3821296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dickard23/pseuds/dickard23
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aang refused to take Azula's bending. Now, Zuko has to figure out what to do with her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Zuko had been discussing the turn of events with Iroh before he learned Aang woke up.  
  
“How could she have knocked him out?”

Iroh shrugged. “Maybe she knows something about energybending. 

“But even Aang hadn’t heard of it until right before the war was over?”

“She had visitors. Maybe she had someone do research for her to prepare for what was to come.”

 ***

Ty Lee denied knowing anything. “All I know is what Aang told me, that he was supposed to reach in her and bend her chi so it wouldn’t flow normally, and she couldn’t bend. He never said anything about it backfiring.”

The Head Sage also denied knowing anything. “I admit that I did discuss the matter with him and in Azula’s defense, but I never knew of any way that she could turn energybending against him. As far as I know, she didn’t either.”

 June was the only other suspect, but she hadn’t been to the prison, so how could she have told Azula anything?

“My Lord, the Avatar is awake.”

Zuko and Iroh went to see him.

Aang turned to them. “Sorry about giving you a fright.”

“What did Azula do to you?”

“She didn’t do anything. That was my fault.”

Aang explained what he had already told Katara and the others. “I can’t take her bending. At first, I was concerned about whether or not she actually deserved to have it taken, but independent of her, I have to have my own guiding principles, and this situation doesn’t qualify. If I use energybending loosely, I could corrupt the Avatar Spirit permanently. I can’t risk that.”

 Iroh said they understood even though Zuko did not understand at all, and he dragged his nephew out of the room before Zuko could say anything stupid.

“What are we going to do?” As long as Azula had her bending, she was a threat. She could come back for the throne, and those who supported her would still have hope that she could be Fire Lord again.

“I don’t know, but Aang is right. If he ruined the Avatar Spirit forever, then all of this balance we strove for would be thrown away. Those who oppose you would attack if he couldn’t defend your blindside.”

Zuko groaned. “I need to think this over.” Zuko went to his office.

 ***

Azula was back in her cell. She wondered if Roku would come back. That night, he did.

“What did Aang do to me?” she asked him.

“He healed you.”

“Was I sick?”

“Not physically or really psychologically. Your spirit has been fractured, from an accumulation of traumatic events. Instead of getting a chance to grieve and heal, you just amassed new wounds over old ones. He started healing the ones on the top and when he got beneath the surface, he made a wrong turn and ended up in your memory bank. Experiencing the world from your point of view overwhelmed him, and he knocked himself out.”

“Is he okay?”

“Oh he’s fine.” 

“What’s going to happen to me now?”

“I’m not sure, but I don’t think you have to worry about your bending being taken.”

Azula smiled and then she frowned.

“What is it?”

“What if Zuko just kills me instead?”

“I think that will be harder for him than you think it would be.” 

Azula wasn’t sure what he meant by that.

*** 

Team Avatar  
  
Zuko needed a plan of action when it came to his sister given Aang’s refusal to take her bending. He, Iroh, Katara, Sokka and Toph met without the Avatar to discuss his predicament.

“Why can’t she just stay in jail?” Sokka questioned.  
  
“Zuko’s reign is fragile,” Iroh answered. “Although he is enjoying popularity in the world, he is not so popular at home.”

“People think I’m a traitor who backstabbed my family and stole my sister’s crown,” he said bitterly.

“As long as she is with her bending,” Iroh, “she could inherit the throne even though Zuko took her title. She could usurp him and if anyone wanted to install her on the throne, he or she knows where to find her.”  
  
“So just jail her in the Earth Kingdom,” Toph said. “She doesn’t have too much support there.” 

“Other than the Dai Li,” Zuko pointed out. “And if she escaped overseas, it would take longer for me to be notified. She would be at an advantage if she wanted to disappear and lie low until she could stage a coup.”

“So you want her not so close such that her allies can reach her, but not so far away that she’s out of your sight?” Sokka asked for clarification.

“Yes.”

“Um, I don’t think that’s possible,” Toph said. “I think you need to prioritize and decide which one matters more.”

***

Meanwhile, June was playing with her son in the garden.

“Can we meet my cousin?” Lu Ten asked. He met the rest of the family.  
  
“She’s in jail.”

“Why?”

“Because the Avatar wouldn’t take her bending, which was supposed to be her punishment.”

“Is the jail far away?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Can we go?”

“I don’t know if I’m allowed to bring children there,” or if I should, who knows what kind of scoundrels are in there.

Lu Ten let out a fire sneeze. He was starting to generate his own flame, but he didn’t have command of it yet. June would ask someone in the family to show him, but they’re too busy with politics.

Ty Lee saw them playing. “He’s sweet,” she said to Mai.

“Yes he is,” Mai agreed.

“I can’t believe Azula was able to keep him a secret for so long. Usually she blabs everything after like two drinks.”

“I guess her vault was better than I thought it was.” Mai had been surprised to learn that Azula had been the only one outside of the sages who knew about June’s son. “If there was a chance to use him as leverage during the war, she didn’t use it.”

“He’s a child,” Ty Lee said.  
  
“Tom Tom is not?”

“You were the one who said just returning the king would be boring.”

“I did say that,” Mai recalled.

Aang came out. “What’s going on?”

“Why aren’t you at the meeting?” Ty Lee asked.

“Huh.”

“Oops!” 

“I’m not surprised Zuko didn’t invite me. He’s rather upset about yesterday.”

Mai had not passed judgment on the matter. Sure, Azula had been a terror during the war, but she and Ty Lee had been right behind her. If Zuko hadn’t been her boyfriend, she wouldn’t have stopped Azula that day. The war would have likely gone a completely different direction. She didn’t really think love was a virtuous reason. It’s not like she loved any of the other people who would have died. She didn’t care about them at all at the time.

“For what it’s worth, I don’t think you were wrong. I don’t know how this is going to turn out,” Mai said to him, “but your obligations extend further than the Fire Nation’s. You have to worry about more than what Zuko has to worry about.”

“It’s not exactly easy to explain that to him.”

“It’s not easy to explain anything to him,” she said bluntly. “He’s stubborn.”

“Roku asked me to talk to you.”

“Me or Mai?” Ty Lee asked.

“Oh Both. Azula wanted to see you.”

“How?” Mai questioned.

“Can’t you just go to Boiling Rock?”

“I meant, how did Roku know what she wanted?” 

“Oh, they have a spiritual connection. He’s her great-grandfather.”

Mai knew about the familial connection but not the other connection.

“Can you fly us?” Ty Lee asked him.

Aang nodded. The trio set out.

***

 

Back at the meeting, they had several options on the board: banishment to either the Earth Kingdom, Air Nation or Water Tribes, brainwashing, physically crippling her, execution or do nothing and leave her in Boiling Rock.

“I don’t think my father would take her as a prisoner,” Sokka said. “One, we don’t have a jail. Two, she could easily melt all our buildings in which case she would be banished, which would be what she wants, so she would have an easy way back to land. Three, don’t take this the wrong way but every time firebenders show up, something bad happens.”

“I think Arnook would have similar reservations after the death of Tui and the loss of his daughter,” Iroh pointed out. 

“So the tribes are out. Azula may have too many friends for Ba Sing Se, what about Omashu?”

“Most of the Fire Nation people there came home, but who knows if Bumi wants to deal with her,” Toph told him.

“There’s Gaoling?” Katara suggested.

“The place full of rich people where everyone’s soft? She could probably talk her way out of custody and become rich by the end of the year.”

“Well there’s the Air Nation,” Iroh said.

“Let’s stick her with the refugees that got forced out by the Fire Nation,” Sokka said. “Also, Qin extorted weapons from the Mechanist and he and Azula were buddies. Totally gonna work.” 

Iroh was annoyed with Sokka’s flippant tone.

“What do you think Sokka?”

“Just leave her where she is. Sure, people will prefer her to you, but that’s true no matter where she is. Why not focus on proving you’re the guy for the job? If she wants the crown back, I’m sure she can find a boat. I don’t think any location change is going to be relevant at the end of the day.”

“Has anyone talked to her since yesterday?” Toph questioned.

Everyone shook his or her head.

 “Why?” Katara asked.

“Aang tried to heal her yesterday. Shouldn’t we see if it works?”

“I don’t care what Aang did,” Katara told her. “There’s no helping her.”

“Didn’t you say that about Zuko and before him, wouldn’t you have said that about anyone Fire Nation?”

Katara sent a bitch glare, but Toph is blind.

“She can’t see your bitch glare,” Sokka told her, “and she has a point, not that I think Azula’s any different, but I think we should at least see what effects this whole spirit healing can have. It could prove useful for well less evil and crazy people.”

They went to find Aang, but he was gone.

“Where did he go?” 

***

When the Avatar came with Mai and Ty Lee, the warden was surprised.

“How can I help you, Mr. Avatar?”

“It is just Aang. We wanted to see Azula.”

“Really?” he questioned. No one came to see her other than the sages.

“Is she lucid?” Mai asked her uncle.

“Um, mostly. She keeps talking to the window like there’s a guy out there, but she’s not ranting or raving.”

The guards escorted them to Azula’s cell. She was surprised to see them just a day later.

“That was fast!” She was not expecting them to come the next day.

Mai stared.

“Is something wrong?”

“You don’t look crazy.”

“Oh,” Azula messed up her hair and started wailing.

Ty Lee laughed, and Mai frowned.

“Oh sorry. I suppose that was rather puckish of me.” 

The guards ran back just to turn around again.  
  
Mai snickered at that.

“So is this where you say you’re sorry, you’re better now and you shouldn’t have tried to kill your brother.”

“Um, that’s not what I was going to say.”

“Well now I’m interested.”

“When Aang went into my memories, I caught a glimpse of who I was before Ozai became Fire Lord, before my mother was banished, before Lu Ten and Azulon died. I was a different person. I wasn’t necessarily a nice person, but I think I was funny mean as opposed to malicious mean.

My father taught me to be cruel and demanding, to use fear and intimidation to get my way. I went along with it because I knew what happened when he didn’t get his way, but I lost myself.

Before he became Fire Lord, my family was the most important thing to me, not the war or patriotism. When I lost Lu Ten and Azulon, I wanted to win the war for good. I wanted them to be proud of me. I wanted to finish what they started. I got so wrapped up in my goals that I forgot that my family came first.”

“I knew you didn’t want to kill your uncle and your brother,” Ty Lee said happily.

“Who cares about them?” Azula said bluntly, shocking her and Aang, but Mai expected as much.

“I meant you and Mai. There are two kinds of family, the one you are born with and the one you choose, and the one you choose matters more. I chose you and Mai not as my minions but as my family, and I’m sorry that I forgot that. That’s the reason I feel bad about trying to kill Zuko.” I never really cared about him anyway.

 Aang was surprised that she was so cold towards her own brother, but Mai felt like she got her Azula back, not Ozai’s minion and not some bullshit person that she might make up to get parole.

Mai hugged her. “Welcome back.” 

“Are we good?”

“We are.”

Ty Lee hugged her. “We are too!”

“Good. I should probably tell you all that Lu Ten has a son. His name is …”

“Lu Ten” they all said.

“How did you?”

“June came here,” Mai said, “after the war ended. She and her son are at the palace.”

“How did you know his name?” Aang asked. She had never seen the boy.

“I checked with the hospital she delivered in to make sure she and her son were okay. I learned his name was Lu Ten. There are a lot of Lu Tens. It was a popular name after he died, so no one was suspicious.”

Ty Lee scratched her head. She would do all of that.

“How is Zuko getting along with the nobles?” Azula questioned.

“Why do you ask?” Aang questioned.

“If he’s not doing so hot, then Lu Ten could be targeted by his enemies. They could try to usurp the throne, put him on it and put in a regent. He was in line before Ozai for the throne. There’s an argument that he’s the true Fire Lord if Iroh didn’t take the throne.” 

They all gulped.

“Zuzu’s not doing so hot, is he?”

“He’s in hot water and it’s only two months,” Mai told her.

“Are the nobles just disagreeable or does he put his foot in his mouth?”

“Both,” Mai said.

“Well, the former you can deal with using patronage as always, and the latter, I would suggest getting him some formal training in etiquette and how to get along with people. He was never good at it. He almost got kicked out of the Royal Academy for Boys for fighting too much.” 

They picked Azula’s brain for a little bit before leaving.

 


	2. Chapter 2

When they got back, everyone was wondering where they had gone.

“We looked all over for you,” Katara scolded, like he didn’t have the right to leave.

“I took Mai and Ty Lee to Boiling Rock.”

“You visited Azula?”

“Roku asked me to take them.”

“Why does he care?”

“He’s her great-grandfather.”

“You’re her great-grandpa?” Toph questioned.

“Not really. I don’t remember his wife or any of the people he knew. We happen to be spirit bonded. I imagine a lot of people are related to past avatars.”

“Cause they were getting busy,” Sokka quipped.

“Or because we’ve been reborn so many times.”

“Aw, party pooper!” Toph teased.

“What did Roku want?” Zuko questioned.

“She wanted to talk to us,” Mai told him. “So she asked him who asked Aang and we went.”

“Let me guess, she’s all reformed and wants out of jail,” Zuko said bitterly.

“She still can’t stand you. She just missed us.”

Sokka snickered.

Zuko frowned.

“What? You’re mad if she apologizes because you think its fake only to be mad that she’s not that sorry. You just want to be mad.”

He narrowed his eyes.

Sokka shrugged. He stood by his analysis.

“I think she has changed,” Aang said. “I don’t know if you’ll like her as she is now, but you didn’t like her before you got banished anyway, so I don’t know if that was realistic.”

“Did you two ever get along?” Toph asked.

“Before she could firebend.”

“When did she start firebending?”

“Three,” Zuko said bitterly.

“He didn’t learn until he was five,” Mai added.

“I’m normal for my age, early even. She’s a freak!”

“Someone has jealousy issues,” Sokka said bluntly.

“She could control her flame as a infant,” Ty Lee added. “She even impressed the Fire Lord, and Azulon didn’t like anybody.”

“He liked Lu Ten,” Zuko added.

“Everyone liked Lu Ten,” Mai retorted. “That’s like asking if everyone likes chocolate.”

* * *

 

Lu Ten ran down the hall when he heard his name.

“Get back here!” June was chasing him.

There was a knock on the door. Aang opened it, and Lu Ten ran right past him to the Fire Lord.

“Can I meet my cousin?”

“Um she’s in jail right now.”

“But you’re the Fire Lord.”

“I am.”

“Which means she could be brought here, like she was yesterday.”

He started giving him puppy eyes.

“Oh, he’s so cute,” Ty Lee cooed.

“Not helping,” Zuko hissed at her.

“They’re having a meeting,” June said as she tried to get her son. She called him over. For the first time, he blatantly ignored her.

He was waiting for an answer.

“Your mother and I should discuss it, later.”

June picked him up and carried him away.

“Why does he want to meet her?” Katara questioned.

“He just found out he was a prince last week,” Ty Lee said. “He wants to meet everyone.”

“What did I tell you about asking Cousin Zuko?”

“You said you should talk to him alone, but if you do that, you can’t utilize my cuteness or peer pressure.”

June gasped. “Where did you learn that?”

“Lo and Li taught me.” They had to tutor someone.

She kissed his forehead. “Maybe I should have a word with them.”

* * *

Zuko and Iroh did not think Azula should be anywhere near Lu Ten.

“What if she hurts him?” Iroh said.

“What if she just teaches him to be like her?”

They both thought June was nuts, but she was insistent on giving Azula a second chance.

“I don’t want to bring my son to a prison, for obvious reasons, but Lu Ten has been asking about her nonstop. He knows she’s in jail. He knows, well the child-friendly version of, why she’s in jail, but he also knows she’s family. That’s all he cares about and I’m not so sure he’s wrong on that front.”

“So what’s next, bringing him to meet his great uncle Ozai?” Zuko snarled.

“There’s no reason for you to be a brat,” June retorted quickly taking the smug look right of Zuko’s face. “Think about this. Out of all of the people he could have gone to when I was pregnant, Lu Ten went to Azula. He didn’t confide his father. He didn’t confide in you or your mother or the sages. She was the one person he trusted to be there for him no matter what. Why do you think that is?”

It bothered Iroh that his son had never told him about his relationship with June or that he was going to be a father. He wondered why Lu Ten would keep it a secret from him and why would he tell Azula of all people?

“I have no idea,” Iroh admitted.

“Well I do. Lu Ten’s biggest criticism about his family was that everyone would only see the good in the people they liked and only see the bad in the people they didn’t. Everyone was to be either admired or scorned, which meant everyone got either spoiled rotten or had an inferiority complex.

He reached out to Azula because she was the most like him. When he looked at her redeeming qualities and her flaws, he saw himself, and he wanted to guide her down a better path than where she was headed. She deserved more than a father who wanted her to be a war weapon and a mother who feared her talent. She needed someone to recognize that she was a person, sometimes good, other times not so good and could accept the whole of her.

He trusted her because he wanted her to be able to trust others. He loved her because you have to show someone love if you want them to love back. He didn’t think Azula was a more worthy person than anyone else. She was enough because she was family, and damned as he tried, none of you fools could get that.

I don’t know every bad thing she’s ever done and I don’t really care. When she found out about me, she could have gone to her father. He could have killed me or made me disappear to protect his stolen throne, but she didn’t. She went to the only people she could trust to protect me, and she didn’t love me obviously. She didn’t know me, but Lu Ten loved me and that was enough for her.

You may fear her, but I don’t, and I’d rather not bring my son into a cell to see her, so could you try getting over yourself long enough to realize that your fears, although understandable and legitimate, are yours. They shouldn’t dictate everyone else.”

She just threw some serious shade. Iroh was still trying to wrap his head around the first thing she said. Zuko was not used to people talking to him so candidly anymore. For the past two months, everyone in his palace had been kissing his ass. June would never do that, even if he had become king of the world.


	3. Family Tree

When they got back, everyone was wondering where they had gone.

“We looked all over for you,” Katara scolded, like he didn’t have the right to leave.

“I took Mai and Ty Lee to Boiling Rock.”

“You visited Azula?”

“Roku asked me to take them.”

“Why does he care?”

“He’s her great-grandfather.”

“You’re her great-grandpa?” Toph questioned.

“Not really. I don’t remember his wife or any of the people he knew. We happen to be spirit bonded. I imagine a lot of people are related to past avatars.”

“Cause they were getting busy,” Sokka quipped.

“Or because we’ve been reborn so many times.”

“Aw, party pooper!” Toph teased.

“What did Roku want?” Zuko questioned.

“She wanted to talk to us,” Mai told him. “So she asked him who asked Aang and we went.”

“Let me guess, she’s all reformed and wants out of jail,” Zuko said bitterly.

“She still can’t stand you. She just missed us.”

Sokka snickered.

Zuko frowned.

“What? You’re mad if she apologizes because you think its fake only to be mad that she’s not that sorry. You just want to be mad.”

He narrowed his eyes.

Sokka shrugged. He stood by his analysis.

“I think she has changed,” Aang said. “I don’t know if you’ll like her as she is now, but you didn’t like her before you got banished anyway, so I don’t know if that was realistic.”

“Did you two ever get along?” Toph asked.

“Before she could firebend.”

“When did she start firebending?”

“Three,” Zuko said bitterly.

“He didn’t learn until he was five,” Mai added.

“I’m normal for my age, early even. She’s a freak!”

“Someone has jealousy issues,” Sokka said bluntly.

“She could control her flame as a infant,” Ty Lee added. “She even impressed the Fire Lord, and Azulon didn’t like anybody.”

“He liked Lu Ten,” Zuko added.

“Everyone liked Lu Ten,” Mai retorted. “That’s like asking if everyone likes chocolate.”

***

Lu Ten ran down the hall when he heard his name.

“Get back here!” June was chasing him.

There was a knock on the door. Aang opened it, and Lu Ten ran right past him to the Fire Lord.

“Can I meet my cousin?”

“Um she’s in jail right now.”

“But you’re the Fire Lord.”

“I am.”

“Which means she could be brought here, like she was yesterday.”

He started giving him puppy eyes.

“Oh, he’s so cute,” Ty Lee cooed.

“Not helping,” Zuko hissed at her.

“They’re having a meeting,” June said as she tried to get her son. She called him over. For the first time, he blatantly ignored her.

He was waiting for an answer.

“Your mother and I should discuss it, later.”

June picked him up and carried him away.

“Why does he want to meet her?” Katara questioned.

“He just found out he was a prince last week,” Ty Lee said. “He wants to meet everyone.”

“What did I tell you about asking Cousin Zuko?”

“You said you should talk to him alone, but if you do that, you can’t utilize my cuteness or peer pressure.”

June gasped. “Where did you learn that?”

“Lo and Li taught me.” They had to tutor someone.

She kissed his forehead. “Maybe I should have a word with them.”

***

Zuko and Iroh did not think Azula should be anywhere near Lu Ten.

“What if she hurts him?” Iroh said.

“What if she just teaches him to be like her?”

They both thought June was nuts, but she was insistent on giving Azula a second chance.

“I don’t want to bring my son to a prison, for obvious reasons, but Lu Ten has been asking about her nonstop. He knows she’s in jail. He knows, well the child-friendly version of, why she’s in jail, but he also knows she’s family. That’s all he cares about and I’m not so sure he’s wrong on that front.”

“So what’s next, bringing him to meet his great uncle Ozai?” Zuko snarled.

“There’s no reason for you to be a brat,” June retorted quickly taking the smug look right of Zuko’s face. “Think about this. Out of all of the people he could have gone to when I was pregnant, Lu Ten went to Azula. He didn’t confide his father. He didn’t confide in you or your mother or the sages. She was the one person he trusted to be there for him no matter what. Why do you think that is?”

It bothered Iroh that his son had never told him about his relationship with June or that he was going to be a father. He wondered why Lu Ten would keep it a secret from him and why would he tell Azula of all people?

“I have no idea,” Iroh admitted.

“Well I do. Lu Ten’s biggest criticism about his family was that everyone would only see the good in the people they liked and only see the bad in the people they didn’t. Everyone was to be either admired or scorned, which meant everyone got either spoiled rotten or had an inferiority complex.

He reached out to Azula because she was the most like him. When he looked at her redeeming qualities and her flaws, he saw himself, and he wanted to guide her down a better path than where she was headed. She deserved more than a father who wanted her to be a war weapon and a mother who feared her talent. She needed someone to recognize that she was a person, sometimes good, other times not so good and could accept the whole of her.

He trusted her because he wanted her to be able to trust others. He loved her because you have to show someone love if you want them to love back. He didn’t think Azula was a more worthy person than anyone else. She was enough because she was family, and damned as he tried, none of you fools could get that.

I don’t know every bad thing she’s ever done and I don’t really care. When she found out about me, she could have gone to her father. He could have killed me or made me disappear to protect his stolen throne, but she didn’t. She went to the only people she could trust to protect me, and she didn’t love me obviously. She didn’t know me, but Lu Ten loved me and that was enough for her.

You may fear her, but I don’t, and I’d rather not bring my son into a cell to see her, so could you try getting over yourself long enough to realize that your fears, although understandable and legitimate, are yours. They shouldn’t dictate everyone else.”

She just threw some serious shade. Iroh was still trying to wrap his head around the first thing she said. Zuko was not used to people talking to him so candidly anymore. For the past two months, everyone in his palace had been kissing his ass. June would never do that, even if he had become king of the world.

***

Three days later, Azula was on her way to the palace. She had been “warned” several times that if she even thought about harming her brother or his stupid friends that she would be met with lethal force.

Honestly, he wasn’t important enough for her to attack anymore, but she wouldn’t tell him that. He needs to feel like the victim. He always has so that people pity him. It’s why she never liked him. She thought her brother was a wimp. Lu Ten was cool. She had always wished that he had been her brother.

Azula was given a chance to change out her prison uniform. Mai had the servants clean her room. It had still been covered in broken glass from her Sozin’s Comet rampage.

Azula put on a simple yellow dress. She wasn’t expecting anything fancy. She had suggested tea and snacks in the garden, so Lu Ten could play and she and June could have their first conversation in about five years.

A servant came to wash and trim her hair.

“Thank you,” Azula said, knowing she didn’t actually command the woman anymore.

The woman blushed and Azula made her way to the garden.

“Where are your guards?” her brother chastised.

“I don’t know. I went to my room. When I opened the door, they weren’t outside it. I assumed they knew where my room was.”

He went to lecture her about the terms of her deal when the guards came running.

“Sorry my Lord. We turned the wrong way going to her room, and we got lost.”

Zuko was about to cry. He had gotten new guards since he didn’t trust Ozai’s, and they were kind of dumb.

Azula held back a laugh. “I’ll go over the corridors with you later.”

“Thank you Princess,” he didn’t seem to know she wasn’t one anymore.

She didn’t correct him.

They escorted her to the garden where June was playing hide and seek with her son.

“The easiest way to find a little boy is to say, ‘I have cookies.’” Azula said loudly.

Lu Ten came running and Azula gave him a cookie. “I found you!”

He hugged her leg.

“Hello, Lu Ten. Have you enjoyed your stay here?”

“Everything’s really big!”

“It is.”

“Even the chairs. I need a booster.”

She picked him up and put him on her lap. “Will I do for now?”

He nodded.

Azula smiled at June. “You haven’t aged a bit.”

“You lie!”

“No, you actually look the same to me. If you have some secret facial cream, you should sell it.”

“I guess chasing goons for coins keeps me young.”

“I could see that. Where is your shirshu?”

“He’s in the barn. The stable boy is spoiling him. I just hope he’s not too lazy when I get him back.”

The servants came out with tea, pine taro puffs, tomato carrot cakes, dumplings and steam buns.

“I used to eat dim sum with my grandfather and Lu Ten. Sometimes, when we saw a cart of dim sum, we’d swipe it and bring it to the Fire Lord. He thought we were the sweetest grandchildren when were really ripping off someone else in the palace.”

June laughed. “I could see him doing that.”

“One time, my mother was having a tea party, and Lu Ten and I had been training. We were so hungry that we came inside and just started pigging out. My mother came back 10 minutes later and was screaming that her food was gone.”

“These are good,” June said of the pine taro puffs. “Lu Ten would go on about these, and some type of fried ribs.”

“Oh those are coming. They take longer to make, so they usually bring them out in the middle of the meal.”

Lu Ten was happily taking food off Azula’s plate. She let him go ahead.

“Has he started commanding his flame yet?”

“He’s getting there. He can get it accidentally, but he hasn’t had any lessons, so he wouldn’t know how to summon it.”

“I can show him if you’d like.”

“I would.”

Lu Ten didn’t like the tea. “It’s not sweet.”

“No, the tea they serve with dim sum is supposed to help with your digestion. It doesn’t taste good.”

“Oh I thought I was just uncultured,” June snickered.

“It’s universally bad,” Azula told her as she took a sip.

The guards watched from a distance. It was hard to see why they were guarding her. She seemed perfectly normal.

***

Iroh watched from the balcony that oversees the garden.

Azula was smiling with his grandson on her lap. She seemed so benign. Azula had never seemed to be capable of being kind, unless there was some benefit to her.

June told Azula about some of her more notorious bounties.

“I had one guy being sued for bigamy, and he fled the jurisdiction to avoid both of his wives. I found him hiding under a giant fur coat pretending he was from the Southern Water tribe. We were in Gaoling, and it was July.”

“What happened?”

“He threw his coat on my head and ran. I threw it away but he had a head start. His fatal flaw was that he kept turning his head back to see how much distance there was between us and he ran into a man with a cabbage cart, scattering all the cabbages, and the goon wiped out, so I grabbed him and hauled him back to where he had originated.”

“Sounds like a fun job,” Azula said, “you get to travel a lot. It’s sanctioned to beat people up, and it sounds easy to skirt the tax man, not that I would ever suggest you do such a thing.”

June snickered. “I bet you’d be good at it, but they usually want their bounty alive.”

“I can do live captures. Ask Iroh about that.”

“I don’t think so.”

***

After lunch, Azula showed Lu Ten how to command his flame.

“Think of something that makes you very happy and then imagine that you can pull the happiness out of your chest and in front of you. Put your hands forward, like this and breathe quickly.”

Azula couldn’t actually demonstrate given her “rules,” but after a couple of tries, Lu Ten got it.

“Good. Now I’ll show you how to suppress a flame. To make flames bigger, you extend your hands out. To make them smaller, you bring your hands together.”

Azula grabbed a stick.

“Now light this stick on fire,” she instructed.

He did it.

“And now bring your hands together and imagine your birthday party just got canceled.”

“Aw!” the flame went out.

“Very good.”

“I can firebend Mommy!”

“You can, my little dumpling.”

She kissed his head.

“Thank you,” June said.

“Thank you. I wasn’t sure when I’d get to eat dim sum again, and I got to meet such a cutie.”

“I can see why Lu Ten loved you.”

“And I you.”

***

Zuko was not amused that Azula taught him firebending. “What did I tell you about firebending?”

“I didn’t firebend,” Azula responded. “He did all the firebending. I just pantomimed.”

“You shouldn’t be teaching him!”

“Why? Because he’s only four, and you didn’t learn you were until five? I bet he could have learned sooner if he had a teacher.”

Zuko hissed at her. “Not another word.”

“I didn’t know you being on the rag was one the terms and conditions.”

His mouth gaped.

Azula was escorted back to prison. She had the last laugh even though Zuko had the throne.

***

Shortly afterwards, Iroh came to see him. “Did you know (that Azula was training Lu Ten)?”

“I got a report from the guards. Technically, she didn’t break a rule. I will adjust them in the future.”

“I can’t believe he’s bending already.”

“He’s almost five,” Zuko mumbled. Zuko didn’t get it until he was almost six. Azula had several months on him, not that Ursa would let her have formal lessons at three years old. Lu Ten would show her little tricks because she was so curious. She’d come out to watch him train.

Lu Ten was playing with his flame. “I’m going to be a master, like Daddy.”

June kissed his head. “Yes you will.”


End file.
